With the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie due to be released into cinemas over the coming weeks, many reviewers have started sharing their opinion of the film online. These initial reviews have also coincided with one of the film’s producers revealing details about future plans for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and what might come next for Sega’s popular mascot.
The original Sonic the Hedgehog movie was well received by many cinema-goers and has since become North America’s highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all-time. Featuring the menacing Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey, the film features Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, blazing around his local neighborhood of Green Hills trying to defeat the Eggman. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has therefore been highly anticipated by many, with promotional materials for the new movie featuring TV spots and unique retro Sonic box art inspired posters, which have given fans a glimpse of what’s to come.
In recently released production notes, VGC reports that Toby Ascher, one of the producers on both the new film and the original, has outlined further details about future Sonic the Hedgehog content. “We're creating a Sonic cinematic universe, so we knew we were going to add characters, like Tails and Knuckles; new to the films but beloved by gamers all over the world,” Ascher stated. It could be then that stars such as Idris Elba, cast as Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, will soon be appearing in further productions; particularly as a third Sonic the Hedgehog film and a live-action TV series have already been announced.
Since the release of Paramount Pictures’ original film, some fans have been speculating what might come next for the blue blur. Already, fans have spotted a potential new twist on Jim Carry’s Dr. Robotnik through the trailers for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Further characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise might feature more heavily, such as Tails or Amy, who appear in the other related TV adaptations, including Sonic Boom, which ran for 52 episodes from 2014 to 2017. There may also be opportunities to feature some of the strongest Sonic the Hedgehog villains, such as the constantly evolving Metal Sonic or the manipulative Solaris.
Many cinema-goers will be eager to see how their favorite characters translate to the big screen within future adaptations. Whilst there appears to have been a mostly positive reaction to the design of Tails, voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey, within recent trailers, the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie was delayed significantly due to a redesign of the main character after negative feedback from viewers and Paramount will likely be hoping their latest additions are more positively received.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will zoom into cinemas on April 8th, 2022.
Source: VGC